Posts Tagged ‘war’

Frothing at the mouth once again at a chance to push their twisted view of those with whom they politically disagree, the media blamed those crazy right wingers for murders at a Jewish school in France. From the story at Big Journalism:

Until today, the New York Times described the Toulouse mass murderer as a “neo-Nazi”, anti-immigrant, intolerant xenophobe who killed Jewish schoolchildren in cold blood, and who was planning to kill again. Yahoo/AP fantasized that the Toulouse shooting deaths “were somehow inspired by anti-immigrant political talk,” religious bigotry, and a “growing climate of intolerance.” The UK Daily Mail explained that most Frenchmen are historically anti-semitic, suggesting the French democratic system was to blame because it “encourages political extremism” as candidates “promote intolerance and pander to the bigotry of neo-Fascists.”

The truth is, the killer was none of these things. He was (he’s dead now, the French cops sent him to meet his maker) a Muslim terrorist. That, however, doesn’t fit. We hardly have to look close to realize that the mass of intolerance comes straight from the media and the left – facts which don’t align simply cannot be tolerated.

The media has a nasty track record of defining the narrative they want early, and later when the facts turn out to be opposite – the story finds itself buried or simply not reported. The meme that conservatives, small government, and rule-of-law (i.e. those who favor legal immigration) types are the angry violent racists among us live a hair trigger from snapping is pushed out into the public before the facts ever have a chance to present themselves.

As the BigJ author points out, this happens over and over again. The left and the media blamed Sarah Palin for the psycho murdering in people Arizona and attempting to assassinate a sitting Congressman. The LA Times said it best: “Sarah Palin unapologetic after criticism related to Arizona shootings” First, blaming Sarah Palin and conservatives is farcical on its face. But when it turned out that the guy was a whacko who had nothing to do with the former governor of Alaska, conservatives, or the tea party we hear crickets, then nonsense. “But but she … well she … Sarah Palin is stupid!”

Memo to the so-called journalists out there: you keep connecting dots that simply don’t exist. You make up facts in the absence of said. Don’t wonder why folks are unsubscribing and turning you off, and why an outlet like Air America was such a huge disaster.

Maybe in those elite j-schools we always hear about which say we must recognize the overwhelming journalistic credibility of our betters, they could use less left-wing indoctrination and more of the basics.

An open letter to the 9/12 project members heading to on Washington, DC on September 12, 2009.

I’m not able join you on the march on Washington on 9/12 because I have commitments here at home. However, I would like to ask that anyone going as part of the 9/12 project please share this with anyone outside the central Ohio 9/12 group that is planning to go.

On Saturday, 9/12, there will be a group of veterans in DC from Ohio, New York, Colorado, Alabama, Florida and perhaps other places as well. These aren’t just any vets, they’re World War II veterans. Honor Flight, at no cost to the vets, flies them to DC for the day so that they can visit the World War II memorial and a few other sites. Most have never had the chance to see the memorial built in their honor, and this is their only opportunity. I’m not here to promote Honor Flight, as worthy an organization as I believe it is.

I’m writing you because in my discussions with the flight organizers, they’re aware of the march on Washington and while I don’t speak for them, I think it would be fair to say they’re a little bit concerned about the crowds and maybe even a bit skittish about the idea of “protesters” running amuck. My and the flight directors’, guardians’, and ground crews’ only mission and concern is for the vets under our care. I know quite a few of you, and know that of anyone, you are the most willing of any crowd – without a thought – to stand and honor the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, to call them heroes. You are also the least likely of any large group I know to be obnoxious or disrespectful to our country.

I believe I can speak for the 9/12 group when I say the whole reason for the march is not because we believe that America is a bad place and needs radical change, or that we think this latest president is a bad man. We believe our liberty is under attack from years of an ever-growing, ever-consuming, increasingly oppressive, and unbounded federal government who would burn the Constitution if they could figure out how to get Sandy Berger to smuggle it out of the archives. Yelling at the TV hasn’t worked. Bold questions, protests, and marches are absolutely our right and if necessary, our responsibility, to ensure the Constitution and our liberty is preserved for future generations.

However. Your path as a group, or perhaps your personal path, will almost certainly at some point intersect with Honor Flight, perhaps at the airports or during your march, as the World War II memorial is directly between the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol building. (Map: http://tinyurl.com/lwl3jb) Please, as you’re in Washington, if you see an old guy in a gray t-shirt (picture: http://tinyurl.com/l6e3he), be respectful. Taking a minute to say thank you would be nice, but if not, please be patient. I ask you humbly with no authority, out of respect for the veterans – the living, the ones who have gone on, and the 400,000 marked by the field of stars who never came home: be aware of your surroundings. Try to save the shouting, yelling, chanting or other overt displays for areas not near and around the war memorials, especially the World War II memorial.

Thank you in advance

Honesty | Reverence | Hope | Thrift | Humility | Charity

1. America Is Good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

Went out to the Mustangs and Legends show yesterday for a few hours. Way cool. There were over 100 P-51s in attendance – the largest gathering of Mustangs since WWII. The Thunderbirds were also there. Several demonstrations included things like pyrotechnics with B-17s, P-41s, and several others. It was very cool to see the 51s escorting the bombers. You could start to get a sense of what it would have looked like back then to have the fighters come roaring overhead.

One really interesting thing was that they had a Jap Zero on display, and the placard mentioned that there were only two flying zeros left in the world. With so many P-51s and all the rest of the WWII era American aircraft, I thought it was neat that so many across the country work so hard to preserve vintage aircraft – in flying condition no less.

I have to say, I’m generally not one of those folks jumping onto bandwagon when it is something average Joe can’t stop raving about. Things like American Idol, the Davinci Code, mySpace, Flickr, and YouTube haven’t really interested me very much.

However, I was editing a Christmas light show video for a friend, who asked me to put it on YouTube for him so he could show it to his friends and family. I was putzing around on the site and somehow came across a series of videos about a WW2 veteran named Les Loken.

I assume that these sites like YouTube and mySpace are mostly used by young, hip kids so I was blown away when I read some of the comments that folks had left. Comments like ‘All the respect in the world to you Mr. Loken’ and ‘Thank you for sharing these stories will all of us. You help us realize how important our history is, and the people who make our history. Thank you Les.’ Most of the comments seem to center on humble gratitude for his service and recognition of how valuable the stories are and how important it is that they be told.

My own grandfather fought in the Pacific on Okinawa. Sadly, I was too young when he died about 14 years ago, to even begin to grasp what he’d done for his country – what he did for me and my family. I was never able to really ask him what happened or what life was like during the war. The veterans I’ve read of almost universally refused to see themselves as heroes. They were just men who had a deep sense of duty and honor to country. I think for many of them “stories” were horrors they lived so we wouldn’t have to. The overriding theme of Flags of Our Fathers was that they honestly felt that their actions were nothing special or out of the ordinary, or deserving of any attention. The uncommon valor of our veterans truly was, and remains so because of people like Les Loken and my grandfather, a common virtue.